Jeffrey Thompson

Dr. Thompson has a diverse background of occupation, starting out in youth ministry, pastoral ministry, and inner city ministry in North Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Thompson transitioned to social work in 2007 and worked for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Florence, Alabama and Sheffield Housing Authority in Sheffield, Alabama. In 2012, Dr. Thompson transitioned again into the academy, taking a one year contract in the Social Work Department at Austin Peay State University. Subsequently, Dr. Thompson secured a tenure track position as Assistant Professor in 2013 and attained tenure and Associate Professor status in August of 2020. Currently, Dr. Thompson serves as Chair of the Social Work Department at APSU and teaches in both the bachelors and masters programs at APSU.

Dr. Thompson's has a range of research interests: inclusion of neurodiverse individuals into societal institutions, equity and social justice concerns for minorities and historically oppressed people groups, the reality of political polarities in the US and the impacts of this polarization on social policy, and the use of role-play and simulation as a pedagogical tool in the classroom.

• Children with Autism and Congregations: Leaders Assessments of Knowledge, Programming, and Potentialities. Journal of Social Work and Christianity.  2019. First author: Jeff D. Thompson.
• Reflections on the Election of Donald J. Trump Uninspired and Inspired Responses from a Social Work Faculty.  Experiential reflections on the election of President Trump. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping.  Author: Jeff D. Thompson.  Spring 2018.